Trying to eat a little better and feed the family more fresh ingredients? Don’t get me wrong we love our easy and convenient snacks at our house too but we do try to cook and eat fresh food as much as possible. I thought I would share some ways on How to Cut Out Processed Foods from your diet.
Cutting processed foods out of your diet can be hard to do with how easy they are and how prevalent they are, but don’t despair; I prepared a guide to cutting out the processed foods in two weeks. Just do one thing each day, and build upon what you did the day before.
Some things I make from scratch instead of buying boxed are homemade pancakes and cranberry chocolate oatmeal bars. Mike likes to make his own smoked beef jerky to snack on, too. So there are definitely a lot of ways to try to make and eat more whole foods!
What are processed foods?
Processed foods can mean quite a few things but basically is any food that has been altered from its original state. Yes many foods require some type of preservation to get from where they are from to your table but there are definitely a lot of ways to try to cut out some of these processed foods on a day to day basis. Trying to remember to eat more “real foods” such as fruits and vegetables and incorporating them more and more into your recipes will help you eat and feel better!
How to Cut Out Processed Foods Out Of Your Diet in 2 weeks
Week 1
Day 1: Add fruit and vegetables to your meals. You want to add at least two fruits or vegetables to each meal. This will help you feel more full on healthy foods and add some variety to your diet.
Day 2: Cut out beverages besides water. For the day, do not drink anything that is not water. As you go on through the time of eating no processed foods, add in a glass of fresh juice once a week or so, and possibly some milk, but no soda, or processed juices, coffee, alcohol, etc.
Sofie and I actually make our own juice several times a week with different fruits and vegetables and we love it! We use this juicer! We even turn the juice into popsicles, too! Or check out some smoothies that we love for some cold treats!
Day 3: Today, start with only eating locally raised meats and limiting the consumption of them to ingredients within a recipe, not the main event. If not locally raised try to choose “organic” or “never any” hormones type of choices from the store.
Day 4: Cut fast-food out of your diet, and do not deep fry anything in oil at home. Instead, consider baked foods and eliminating the fast options. Or you can always check out some Air Fryer recipes for when you are craving some of those favorites!
Day 5: Add two new whole foods to your menu today. Consider something you have never tried before.
Day 6: Get rid of altered foods, such as “enhanced” or “no-fat” or “lite” these typically contain some kind of chemical ingredient. They are processed, and the goal is to cut those out, so cut out the altered foods.
Day 7: Add 100% whole grains to your diet. This means get rid of the foods that are not whole grain and switch them out for whole-grain options.
Week 2
Day 8: Stop the sugar rush. Get rid of refined sweeteners. When you need to add some sweet, consider some natural sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup.
Day 9: If you feel full, don’t eat. This is the best way to learn to eat what your body needs, listen to your body’s cues.
Day 10: Find a farmer’s market and start eating local foods that are raised nearby. Do this for one meal a day, and try to avoid foods that are not in season.
Day 11: Cut out the refined and hydrogenated oils, like vegetable oil, corn oil, canola oil, etc. Stick with extra virgin olive oil if you need oil. Many recipes, even in baking can be subbed out with some olive oil or even applesauce!
Day 12: If it has something artificial, color, sweetener, flavor, etc., then cut it out of the diet. Do a thorough sweep of your pantry and refrigerator to rid yourself of foods with artificial ingredients.
Day 13: Simplify. Try to only eat meals that require a few ingredients per dish, and do not buy anything that is packaged that has more than 3-5 ingredients listed on the label.
Day 14: Do some research to find some recipes your family loves for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks that do not use processed foods.
I hope you find some of these ways on How to Cut Out Processed Foods helpful! Don’t get down on yourself if you can’t do it completely. We eat a little here and there but definitely try our best to eat whole, real foods as much as possible!
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June 1, 2021 at 8:45 am[…] How to Cut Out Processed Foods […]